Remember the days when getting in some exercise meant more than just setting your smartwatch, ensuring your phone was connected, choosing the right playlist, and finding earbuds that wouldn’t fall out?

Back when we had the THIGHMASTER, and Suzanne Somers wore her bright leggings, telling us we too could have thighs of steel in just a few easy workouts from the comfort of our living rooms while we watched the afternoon soaps. And then, just a few months later, it would poke out from under the couch in the rec room, haunting us and collecting dust bunnies.

Maybe it was the way the springs creaked and groaned, the feeling of being empowered by a future vision of ourselves—ripped and sleek on the dance club floors, putting John Travolta to shame! Thanks, StairMaster!

Let’s not forget the Ab Roller—the wheel of wonder that whispered promises of washboard abs but simply delivered a crash course in humility. Out we’d drag it, ready for that workout on the plush carpet, only to find ourselves a few minutes later lying on the floor like an overturned turtle. But on we’d roll, our dreams of a six-pack as persistent as the lower back pain.

Oh, and how about the Shake Weight? That thing that looked like an alien torture device shook us and our sense of dignity. But oh, we bought them—indeed, we did. We were all shook up, battling that flab one mighty shake at a time!

Then, of course, there was the clothes rack disguised as a technological marvel of fitness. We could buy them in so many configurations as we dreamt of smooth lines, glossy pecs, and mighty fine glutes. The Bowflex promised the body of a Greek god, but it really just served to remind us of our fitness goals every time we hung a towel on it.

It all started to gain momentum in the 1940s and accelerated like the promise of flying cars into the ’50s and through to the ’90s, before things got more complicated and we had to start fiddling with watches, phones, and connected devices.

There was the Reduc-o-Matic portable sauna that would melt the fat away while you sat dripping sweat. Or even the Horse Simulation Machine of the 1800s, which more often than not left you in a heap on the floor rather than providing the benefits of a real horseback ride.

We look back with a certain fondness for these wild and crazy gadgets—not so much for what they actually did (and mostly didn’t) do for us, but for the memories they bring. They marked stages in our lives, whether funny or perhaps painful from pulled muscles.

Perhaps, too, we feel the innocence of the times—the promises they held, the dreams and hopes they inspired. Our motivations were maybe simpler then, too: attract a mate, enhance our social status?

Or perhaps they remind us of a time when our knees didn’t sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies every time we stood up? Or maybe we just really, really wanted a fancy clothes hanger.

These gadgets were pretty cheap, both in cost and, for many, in quality. They were only ever really designed to be used for a short while, and aside from a few, were easy to sell at yard sales after spring clean-outs. We were all too happy to get that Bowflex clothes rack out of the basement—maybe even for free sometimes.

For some of us, we may have bought these gadgets at special moments in our lives, where they helped us through tough times. Perhaps they played a role in getting us on the road to steady, committed fitness that we still follow today.

Nowadays, we’re more likely to find a simple yoga mat and block tucked away for ready access in our living room, or to slip out into the backyard on a warm summer morning.

One thing’s for sure: those funky fitness gadgets will always hold a fond place in our hearts—a wee chuckle or a brief pang of nostalgia. They represent a time when our determination was as strong as the steel they were made of, and our optimism was as stretchy as those resistance bands we never quite figured out how to use right.

Those gadgets of yesteryear may not have given us the bodies we dreamt of, but they’ve given us inspiration and the desire to keep on keeping on!